So in college, I was a government major, which means I had to write a lot of papers. Now, when a normal student writes a paper, they might spread the work out a little like this. So, you know—
所以在大学里，我是政府专业的，这意味着我必须写很多论文。现在，当一个普通学生写一篇论文时，他们可能会像这样把工作分散开来。所以，你知道——
you get started maybe a little slowly, but you get enough done in the first week that, with some heavier days later on, everything gets done, things stay civil.
你开始可能有点慢，但你在第一周就完成了足够的工作，以至于后来几天更繁忙，一切都完成了，事情保持文明。
And I would want to do that like that. That would be the plan. I would have it all ready to go, but then, actually, the paper would come along, and then I would kind of do this.
我想像那样做。这就是计划。我会把一切都准备好，但后来，实际上，这篇论文会出现，然后我会这样做。
And that would happen every single paper.
每篇论文都会发生这种情况。
But then came my 90-page senior thesis, a paper you're supposed to spend a year on. And I knew for a paper like that, my normal workflow was not an option. It was way too big a project. So I planned things out, and I decided I kind of had to go something like this. This is how the year would go. So I'd start off light, and I'd bump it up in the middle months, and then at the end, I would kick it up into high gear just like a little staircase. How hard could it be to walk up the stairs? No big deal, right?
但后来出现了我90页的毕业论文，一篇你应该花一年时间写的论文。我知道对于这样的论文，我的正常工作流程不是一种选择。这是一个太大的项目。所以我把事情计划好了，我决定我必须做这样的事情。这就是今年的情况。所以我从轻盈开始，在中间的几个月里我会把它提升起来，然后在最后，我会把它加速到高速档，就像一个小楼梯一样。走上楼梯有多难？没什么大不了的，对吧？
But then, the funniest thing happened. Those first few months? They came and went, and I couldn't quite do stuff. So we had an awesome new revised plan.
但后来，最有趣的事情发生了。最初的几个月？他们来来去去，我什么也做不了。因此，我们有一个很棒的新修订计划。
and then—
然后——
But then those middle months actually went by, and I didn't really write words, and so we were here. And then two months turned into one month, which turned into two weeks. And one day I woke up with three days until the deadline, still not having written a word, and so I did the only thing I could: I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours, pulling not one but two all-nighters—humans are not supposed to pull two all-nighters—sprinted across campus, dove in slow motion, and got it in just at the deadline.
但后来那些中间的月份实际上过去了，我并没有真正写词，所以我们就在这里。然后两个月变成了一个月，又变成了两周。有一天，我醒来时距离截止日期还有三天，仍然没有写一个字，所以我做了我唯一能做的事：我在72小时内写了90页，拉了一个，而是两个通宵达旦的人——人类不应该拉两个通宵达旦的人——在校园里冲刺，以慢动作俯冲，并在截止日期前完成。
I thought that was the end of everything. But a week later I get a call, and it's the school. And they say, "Is this Tim Urban?" And I say, "Yeah." And they say, "We need to talk about your thesis." And I say, "ok." And they say, "It's the best one we've ever seen."
我以为这就是一切的结束。但一周后，我接到一个电话，是学校。他们说，“这是蒂姆·乌尔班吗？我说，“是的。他们说，“我们需要谈谈你的论文。我说，“好的。他们说，“这是我们见过的最好的一个。
That did not happen.
但事实并非如此。
It was a very, very bad thesis.
这是一个非常非常糟糕的论点。
I just wanted to enjoy that one moment when all of you thought, "This guy is amazing!"
我只是想享受那一刻，你们所有人都在想，“这家伙太棒了！
No, no, it was very, very bad. Anyway, today I'm a writer-blogger guy. I write the blog Wait But Why. And a couple of years ago, I decided to write about procrastination. My behavior has always perplexed the non-procrastinators around me, and I wanted to explain to the non-procrastinators of the world what goes on in the heads of procrastinators, and why we are the way we are. Now, I had a hypothesis that the brains of procrastinators were actually different than the brains of other people. And to test this, I found an MRI lab that actually let me scan both my brain and the brain of a proven non-procrastinator, so I could compare them. I actually brought them here to show you today. I want you to take a look carefully to see if you can notice a difference. I know that if you're not a trained brain expert, it's not that obvious, but just take a look, okay? So here's the brain of a non-procrastinator.
不，不，这是非常非常糟糕的。无论如何，今天我是一个作家兼博主。我写了博客 等待，但为什么。几年前，我决定写关于拖延症的文章。我的行为一直困扰着我周围的非拖延症患者，我想向全世界的非拖延症患者解释一下，拖延症患者的脑子里是怎么回事，为什么我们会变成现在这个样子。现在，我有一个假设，拖延者的大脑实际上与其他人的大脑不同。为了测试这一点，我找到了一个MRI实验室，它实际上让我扫描了我的大脑和一个被证明的非拖延症患者的大脑，这样我就可以比较它们。实际上，我今天把它们带到这里来给你们看。我希望你仔细看一看，看看你是否能注意到其中的差异。我知道，如果你不是一个训练有素的大脑专家，这并不那么明显，但只要看看，好吗？所以这是一个非拖延症患者的大脑。
Now... here's my brain.
现在。。。这是我的大脑。
There is a difference. Both brains have a rational decision-maker in them, but the procrastinator's brain also has an instant gratification monkey. Now, what does this mean for the procrastinator? Well, it means everything's fine until this happens.
这是有区别的。两个大脑都有一个理性的决策者，但拖延者的大脑也有一只即时满足的猴子。现在，这对拖延者意味着什么？好吧，这意味着在这种情况发生之前一切都很好。
(This is a perfect time to get some work done.) (Nope! )
（这是完成一些工作的最佳时机。（不！
So the rational decision-maker makes the rational decision to do something productive, but the monkey doesn't like that plan, so he takes the wheel. And then we have a conflict. Now, sometimes the rational decision-maker wins, and sometimes the monkey wins. But for the procrastinator, it's often the monkey that wins. And that's why we procrastinate. But there's another character in this story, and this is the Panic Monster. The Panic Monster only shows up when there's a deadline, when there's real consequences for not doing something. And the Panic Monster is very powerful. He can make the monkey go away and let the rational decision-maker take over. But the problem is, the Panic Monster doesn't show up until it's often too late. So that's the basic anatomy of procrastination.
因此，理性的决策者会做出理性的决定去做一些有成效的事情，但猴子不喜欢这个计划，所以他接过了方向盘。然后我们发生了冲突。现在，有时理性的决策者赢了，有时猴子赢了。但对于拖延者来说，赢家往往是猴子。这就是我们拖延的原因。但是这个故事中还有另一个角色，那就是恐慌怪物。恐慌怪兽只有在有最后期限时才会出现，当不做某事会产生真正的后果时。而且恐慌怪兽非常强大。他可以让猴子走开，让理性的决策者接管。但问题是，恐慌怪物不会出现，直到往往为时已晚。这就是拖延症的基本解剖。

Now, I want to talk about some of the things that I think are really important to understand about procrastination. The first is that inside the mind of a procrastinator, there's always this battle going on between the rational decision-maker and the instant gratification monkey. And the second is that for a lot of procrastinators, the Panic Monster is not a reliable ally. He shows up when it's almost too late, and he causes a lot of stress and anxiety. And the third is that understanding this can help us be more aware of our own tendencies to procrastinate and maybe find better ways to deal with it. So how do we deal with procrastination? Well, one thing we can do is try to make the rational decision-maker stronger. We can set clear goals, break tasks into smaller steps, create a schedule, and find ways to make ourselves accountable. Another thing we can do is try to make the environment less conducive to procrastination. For example, we can turn off our phones, close unnecessary tabs on our computers, and find a quiet place to work. And finally, we can try to find some kind of motivation or inspiration to keep us going when the monkey is trying to take over. Maybe it's thinking about the long-term consequences of not doing something, or finding a way to make the task more enjoyable. In conclusion, I want to say that procrastination is not a unique problem. We all struggle with it to some extent. But by understanding how our minds work and finding strategies to overcome it, we can become more productive and less stressed. And that's something that I think is worth striving for. Thank you.
现在，我想谈谈一些我认为对于理解拖延症非常重要的事情。首先，在拖延者的心中，理性的决策者和即时满足的猴子之间总是在进行这场战斗。第二个是，对于很多拖延症患者来说，恐慌怪兽不是一个可靠的盟友。他在几乎为时已晚的时候出现，他造成了很大的压力和焦虑。第三，理解这一点可以帮助我们更加了解自己拖延的倾向，也许会找到更好的方法来处理它。那么我们该如何处理拖延症呢？好吧，我们可以做的一件事是尝试让理性的决策者更强大。我们可以设定明确的目标，将任务分解成更小的步骤，制定时间表，并找到让自己负责的方法。我们可以做的另一件事是尝试使环境不那么有利于拖延。例如，我们可以关掉手机，关闭计算机上不必要的标签页，并找一个安静的地方工作。最后，我们可以尝试找到某种动机或灵感，当猴子试图接管时，让我们继续前进。也许是在考虑不做某事的长期后果，或者找到一种方法让任务更有趣。总之，我想说拖延不是一个独特的问题。我们都在某种程度上与它作斗争。但是，通过了解我们的大脑是如何运作的，并找到克服它的策略，我们可以变得更有效率，压力更小。我认为这是值得为之奋斗的事情。谢谢。